


Seven Lonely Days

by masterwords



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Aaron Hotchner Needs a Hug, M/M, Protective David Rossi, Sick Aaron Hotchner, Sick Character, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:15:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28457418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masterwords/pseuds/masterwords
Summary: “I'm sorry to bug you, Dave, but I did something bad...” she began, and he sighed.  His mind ran through all of the things she could have done.  It was Emily, though, and the list was endless.  “I came to work with a cold on Friday.  I had too much to do without you and Reid here, so it's basically your fault really. Anyway, on Tuesday, Hotch started looking a little extra tired...you know, his eye bags were packed and ready to go on a two week vacation...”“Did you get him sick, Emily?” Dave asked, cocking an eyebrow.  Silence followed, guilty silence.“I said it was your fault.  No one was here to stop me.  I think I sneezed on him...maybe...I don’t remember.”
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/David Rossi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	Seven Lonely Days

**Author's Note:**

> I've got about 3 WIPs, all of which are either super whumpy or super angsty, so I wanted to write up something quick and cute and fluffy. (Cross-posted on Tumblr)

It began with a phone call from Emily Prentiss at 10am on a Thursday morning. Dave was in New Jersey consulting on a case with Reid while the rest of the team was at home. They were all set to fly back home and were just sitting around on the jet waiting for take off. 

“I'm sorry to bug you, Dave, but I did something bad...” she began, and he sighed. His mind ran through all of the things she could have done. It was Emily, though, and the list was endless. “I came to work with a cold on Friday. I had too much to do without you and Reid here, so it's basically your fault really. Anyway, on Tuesday, Hotch started looking a little extra tired...you know, his eye bags were packed and ready to go on a two week vacation...”

“Did you get him sick, Emily?” Dave asked, cocking an eyebrow. Silence followed, guilty silence.

“I said it was your fault. No one was here to stop me. I think I sneezed on him...maybe...I don’t remember.”

“Emily,” Dave muttered, shaking his head. “Why?”

“I haven't even told you the worst part. The part that's REALLY your fault.”

“He hasn't even called me...”

“Well, yeah, about that...he can't. I mean I guess he could have texted, but he's probably just hoping he can figure out a way to make it go away by the time you guys get back...anyway, he can't talk. I made him lose his voice. I mean its totally gone. It's really been nice but I knew you'd be mad that I broke him and didn't tell you.”

Dave sighed. This wasn't the first time Hotch had lost his voice. A school aged child lived in their home, forever bringing home an assortment of bacteria and viruses and handing them to the two men on a silver platter. It was rare that Dave caught much of anything, which he claimed was due to his Italian genes or how mean he was, but Hotch got the brunt of it. Jack's kindergarten year had been particularly high on the nightmare illness scale, involving pink eye, strep throat and an ominous stomach virus that seemed to make the rounds and repeat forever. First grade had, so far, been mostly just stuffy noses and an occasional fever for the boy that never amounted to anything for anyone else. Leave it to Emily Prentiss to spread something when a child falls short. 

“Emily, is he sick?”

“Oh yeah. Totally. He's asleep on his desk right now. Been like that for hours now. We're just gonna leave him there until you guys get in...”

“We aren't even in the air yet,” Dave said, hoping she would read the tone of his voice. She didn't. Or she ignored it. 

“Garcia has been checking on him, it's fine. I boxed up his files for you, since I figure you'll just take care of all of...that...for him. I've got his voicemails and emails, that's going really well. We've got things covered.”

From the sound of it, Dave knew things were in fact not going well, but there wasn't anything he could do. He was okay with them letting Aaron sleep, but he was worried about the messes they were making for him. When the cat's away, he thought. A few minutes of banter later and he had to say goodbye, the plane was ready to take off. Reid had been listening to the entire conversation and he just grinned. 

“Glad I wasn't there...” he muttered. Dave smiled. Of course, what Reid meant was that he didn't want to get sick, but Dave also thought he probably meant he didn't want to be around either Emily or Aaron when they were sick – neither of them was very nice when they didn't feel well. Emily was the worst. She was sharp and sarcastic, she loved to make mean jokes and often they were aimed at Reid...with love, of course. Aaron just got dark, he brooded a lot, got somehow quieter if that was even possible but Reid knew that it was more a show than anything – he was a softy. The way he lit up when Garcia would dote on him, even if he told her repeatedly to stop, was a dead giveaway.

“You and me both, kid,' Dave muttered, leaning back in his seat. He looked at his phone and pulled up the last message from Aaron, it was simply a sweet goodnight message from the night prior. No mention of not feeling well. He considered texting Aaron but was afraid of waking him so he just turned it off and slid it back into his pocket.

The plane ride back was short and fun, the two of them had engaged in an amusing game of Hearts, because Reid didn't care for poker and Rossi didn't like chess. They'd left the option for Go Fish on the table if Hearts hadn't worked out – anything to pass the time. By the time they'd reached Quantico, they were in a dead heat with games won and lost, swearing for a rematch in the near future. When they entered the building it was quiet, everyone either hard at work or out at lunch. The two men were greeted with cheerful smiles and hugs, most of which they returned...except for Emily, she was greeted with a sideways glare from Dave and an elbow bump followed by hand sanitizer from Reid. 

“He still sleeping?” Dave asked, brushing past her toward the stairs. She nodded and shrugged. 

“Snoring. We had to close his door,” Emily said, smiling. Morgan chuckled, but collected himself quickly until he saw Dave shake his head and smile – then he let the rest of the laugh out. Reid had already begun wiping his desk down with bleach wipes, starting with his phone and chair, not paying attention to what anyone was saying. Emily leaned over and whispered into Reid’s ear, grinning wildly.

“I licked it all,” she said before rushing away for more coffee. 

“You're all rotten. You should be ashamed of yourselves,” Dave said quietly, shaking his head. They wore business clothes, pressed and polished, but they were all just overgrown children. 

He ascended the stairs quickly, making a stop at his office to deposit his bag and the case files they'd taken with them. His office smelled stale and dusty after nearly a week of not being used, and he'd locked the door so even housekeeping wouldn't go in while he wasn't around so before heading to Aaron's office he opened the door wide and turned on the fan he kept in his desk drawer. Being as high up as they were, and having so many windows, it got very hot in his office, he used his fan often even in winter. Once he felt good about his space, he slipped out quietly and down the hall to his partner's office, peeking in through the slivers between the blinds. Aaron was hunched over at his desk, arms folded, head nestled down inside the crooks of his arms. There was a blanket sprawled over his shoulders and a mug beside him, Penelope's doing no doubt. He entered quietly and closed the door behind him before approaching the desk. He placed his hand on Aaron's back, softly between his shoulders, feeling his partner's shallow, ragged breaths. 

“Aaron?” he asked quietly, letting his hand trail up onto the man's neck, it was clammy and warm, hair matted with sweat at the nape. He felt Aaron stir beneath him. “I'm home.”

Aaron rolled his shoulders first, then turned his head, his eyes slivers squinting into the dim light of the room, clearly disoriented. He opened his mouth to say something, mouthed Dave's name but what came out was hardly more than the ghost of a voice and followed by a wince and a hard swallow. A cough came next, and another wince. His features were pale, dark circles under his eyes like the sleep on his desk has been his only sleep the entire week and Dave was pretty sure that was the case. 

“Emily did this to you,” he muttered and Aaron nodded, running a hand through his messy mop of hair that needed a trim. “Let's get you home.”

Aaron tried to speak, tried to say he had too much to do, but the sound that came out was like something out of a horror film, like razor blades and daggers, zombie feet scraping along the ground, and Dave just shook his head. 

“You need to go home before you get someone else sick. Don't be like Emily.” There, that was it. Dave had him up and out of his chair fast with that one. Guilt could do wonders. They packed up their things quickly and made their way out of the building without much to do, everyone had already known it was going to happen. Dave left both of their offices open intentionally, his to be dusted top to bottom, and Aaron's with a little post it note on the door that said to use a lot of bleach and wear gloves. 

At home, everything was still and silent and very, very clean, proving Dave correct in assuming that Aaron hadn’t been sleeping in his absence. Jessica had taken Jack to visit cousins at the coast for spring break, which was nearing its end, and Dave knew his job was to just get Aaron healthy enough not to infect Jack when he returned in a few days. The last thing they needed was to be the family that brought the first real illness into Jack's classroom. Without missing a beat, Dave hopped up the stairs and began running a hot shower while Aaron moped up the stairs behind him. By the time he'd made it to the bathroom, Dave was ready for him with all of the things that made him feel better – a tub of Vicks that was probably a decade old (stored in the back corner of the cupboard), Tylenol and a hot steamy bathroom. He left Aaron to get himself settled and began unpacking his bags, throwing in a load of laundry and pouring a glass of wine while he milled around the house, inspecting all of the nooks and crannies that Aaron had organized and cleaned. A week spent alone and even though he’d probably worked more hours at the office than usual, he’d still managed to knock out much of his to do list as well. It was so quiet without Jack. At first, it had been overwhelming, going from living single to life with another adult and a small child and he'd been on edge a lot, retreating to the silence of his den often. Now, he didn't know how he ever lived without the sounds of these people. He sat himself in his favorite chair and sipped his wine, thumbing through his mail absentmindedly, waiting for Aaron to come padding down the hall after his shower. It was a dance, taking care of Aaron, knowing when to lead and when to follow. He wouldn't run his own shower, he'd hold out, pretending he didn't need it, but if you ran it for him he couldn't stay away. That was where you lead. Then you waited, waited for him to do his thing, because he needed the time to himself, to sit in silence and be alone with his thoughts and his aches. Sometimes he'd read a book, or listen to sad old country music, or just be silent and fall asleep in the tub depending on how sick he was. Tonight, it was Patsy Cline – he was sick, but he wasn't dying. It was a good sign. Dave settled into his chair and waited, enjoying the simplicity of being back at home, not stuffed into a hotel room next door to Reid. The two of them had enjoyed each other's company, but were absolutely ready to be on their own by the end of each day. 

His phone rang as he sat in his silence, and he considered not answering it but it was Emily and it could have been important, though he was fairly sure it wasn't. 

“Rossi,” he began, leaning his head back against the cushion and taking a long gulp. A glass of wine in the afternoon, when he should have been at work – life had few pleasures as indulgent as this. He intended to soak it up.

“Okay, don't be mad at me but I might have done something...bad...” she began and he sighed, the deep sigh of the long suffering. 

“Haven't you done enough?” he asked, rolling his eyes. He heard the shower shut off, but Patsy was still crooning away. 

“Hey. This was your fault, remember? You should never have left. Anyway, I might have said something I shouldn't have to someone...important. Just a little thing. I think I said something to the effect of telling him to fuck off with his bureaucratic bullshit, I’m not sure though, I blacked out. I think Hotch might be in trouble...I just saw an email come through that's pretty strongly worded recommending disciplinary action with a thinly veiled threat attached. Should I just delete the email or....?”

“No, you idiot, don't delete it. He'll take care of it when he can talk,” Dave said calmly, secretly thinking to himself that she deserved a pat on the back. He probably would have said the same thing, maybe just without the profanity attached. “I've got to go, I hear him coming down the hall. Stop answering his voicemails, no more phone calls for you, let them be. You're not qualified.”

“That's what I told Morgan! I blame him.” 

“Goodbye Emily,” Dave said, clicking the phone off just in time to see Aaron shuffle into the den, in pajamas and a robe, big wool socks and wet hair. He regarded the other chair with a sour face before dropping to his knees in front of Dave's chair, leaning his head on the other man's lap like a sad dog. Dave tangled his fingers in Aaron's wet hair, twisting it in circles and patting it back down mindlessly. 

“I go out walking...after midnight...” Dave began, singing softly, losing himself in the twirling of Aaron's hair and the warm feeling of wine on an empty stomach. “Out in the moonlight...just like we used to, I'm always walking...after midnight...searching for you...” He'd heard Aaron listening to Patsy and it had settled into his brain, sweetly, somberly there. He listened to Aaron's shallow breathing, the little coughs he tried to stifle because they burned his throat terribly. He turned his eyes up at Dave as he sang, smiling sweetly, his eyes tired and blinking slowly. He wanted to tell Dave he was glad to see him, glad he was home, that he'd missed him, but he had to settle for just a silent smile. Dave kept singing, softly, and Aaron watched him, letting himself drift away on the sound of his lover's voice. He missed Dave so much. After being alone all week, spending half of it feeling like garbage, all he wanted was to have Dave beside him, forcing him to take care of himself instead of indulging in his self-destructive tendencies. He was convinced that his team was starting fires left and right without him there, but he didn't worry too much about putting them out, there would be plenty of time for that. After all, how much trouble could they get into in an afternoon?


End file.
